A majestic mountain lion, wandering the peaks along the Colorado/Utah border. A strong, graceful bobcat, making his way back to his den after a meal. For me, these scenes evoke reverence for the natural world: a profound respect for the inherent value of each living being, and for each being’s rightful place in the ecosystem. For others, however, such images conjure an aggressive desire to dominate, kill, and reign supreme. Sadly, for this latter faction, the thirst for blood can be satisfied…

Image of hunter courtesy of Born Free USA.

Hunters drool at the chance to execute “big game” animals—lions, elk, antelope, and the like, including endangered and threatened species—and keep their lifeless heads as “trophies.” But, because many of these species live on other continents, or can be difficult to stalk, some hunters are willing to pay big bucks for a guaranteed kill.

How can a kill be guaranteed? Canned hunting. Wild animals are captured and fenced in, unable to escape, and a hunter pays an operator for the “opportunity” to shoot one at point-blank range. These hunts occur on private land, typically known as “ranches.” To kill a single animal, a ranch operator can charge anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. continue reading…

The winning bidder, Corey Knowlton of north Texas, promised $350,000 to the Namibian government. That money would buy him the right to kill the animal, but under international and federal law Knowlton needs U.S. permission before he can haul the dead rhino’s carcass home with him. continue reading…

Wildlife Exploitation as “Conservation”

by Adam M. Roberts, Executive Vice President, Born Free USA

“Use it or lose it.” “Wildlife must pay its way.” “Trophy hunters are conservationists.” There has been a growing movement among the wildlife exploitation apologists for the better part of 20 years now that advocates for wildlife use, consumption, and exploitation, as the way to conserve wildlife and provide resources to local communities that share habitats with wildlife.

These seemingly pragmatic factions of the conservation discourse seize on any opportunity to highlight poaching incidents in countries (such as Kenya) that have wildlife hunting bans, and employ a faulty economic analysis to the profitability of wildlife trade.

If the goal of a global conservation ethic is to protect wildlife populations for future generations while ensuring economic stability for developing nations with abundant biodiversity then the conversation is going to have to dip slightly deeper than a “use it or lose it” motto.

The bottom line is that as long as there is a profit to be made by selling wildlife contraband—whether elephant ivory, tiger bones, bear gallbladders, or rhino horns—or legal wildlife products such as lion hunting trophies, there are going to be unscrupulous poachers and profiteers who will seek to exploit this resources with abandon. And that opportunism, I would argue, is never going to lead to wildlife conservation or community support. continue reading…

"Service Animal" Scammers (New Yorker): An increasing number of your neighbors have been keeping company with their pets in human-only establishments simply by claiming that the creatures are their licensed companion animals and are necessary to their mental well-being.